Wake Up! It’s Hard Work!

I heard a message on Nehemiah yesterday – he is one of my favorite people. Nehemiah speaks to me of the person I want to be. Most of us have dreams, many of us have passion for those dreams, few of us pursue our dreams, and of that number, only a small number are willing to do the work that it takes for those dreams to become a reality!

I am a procrastinator by nature – as sure as I have a project to do, I usually wait until the last minute to do it. That is why I have had something staring in my face for over two months now and only began work on it this week-end because I’m under the deadline gun. Needless to say, what I thought I could knock out in an hour or two, after spending several hours on it, I found that I had only scratched the surface in completing it. Yet if I had just spent a little time each day – this deadline would not be hanging over my head – and I would not be under such pressure to “have to!”

In thinking about this I was reminded of the Proverb about sluggards (in this version, called lazybones) :

6 Take a lesson from the ants, you lazybones.
Learn from their ways and become wise!
7 Though they have no prince
or governor or ruler to make them work,
8 they labor hard all summer,
gathering food for the winter.
9 But you, lazybones, how long will you sleep?
When will you wake up? Proverbs 6:6-9 (NLT)

The Bible has all the answers for us – some that are “tight, but right!” Working hard in our season will always produce a harvest in the appropriate time. I am reminded every month when my pension comes of the years that I got up so early in the morning, to begin a very long day of work! Fortunately most of the years I worked, I was blessed to do things I enjoyed – but there were some years when I had to really talk to myself to make the trip to a job that I wish I didn’t want to go to. And yet it was during those years that I learned so much about life, about myself, about other people, it was those years that I finally grew up!

I’m inspired by Nehemiah because he was able to motivate people to look at the devastation that had been going on for ninety years in Israel and roll up their sleeves with “a mind to work” – no one was going to rebuild their broken down walls, if their city was going to be rebuilt, they were going to have to do it!

Yes, It’s Monday again – it’s a work day – let’s take a lesson from one of God’s smallest creations – the ants!

God Bless You (And Me) – Let’s Get to Our Work!
Maria